Photos

south dakota photos

Hess Corp. drilling supervisor Mike Durkin explains the oil-drilling process to lawmakers from North and South Dakota Aug. 30, 2012 near Tioga, N.D.

A guest desk at the Adoba Eco Hotel Rapid City/Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota.

A guest room at the Adoba Eco Hotel Rapid City/Mt. Rushmore, which is the only sustainable, eco-luxury hotel in South Dakota.

Rupert Boneham, a favorite on the reality TV series Survivor, chats with friends and poses for photos on Main Street in Deadwood, S.D., on Monday, before rolling out in the 70th Annnual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.

Reid Holsen, 50

Sioux Falls, S.D.

I am a coffee lover and have long been sensitive to caffeine. It takes just a little to set me off on a case of the shakes and the jitters. So, many years ago, I switched to decaf. I have Keurig machines in my office and at home and usually hit Starbuck’s and Caribou once or twice a day while on the road and at home.

Crews using lasers are creating a three-dimensional digital scan of the four presidential faces and other features of the Mount Rushmore National Monument for historic documentation and preservation.

South Dakota's George S. Mickelson Trail in winter.

From left, North Dakota State's Ashley Tingelstad, Wayne State's Christina King and South Dakota's Alexia Duling race in a women's 400-meter heat during the Howard Wood Dakota Relays in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Mike Rink rings a bell for the Salvation Army in front of a grocery store in Sioux Falls, S.D. The National Weather Service says a winter storm will dump up to 16 inches of snow across South Dakota by Christmas.

This fall, crews from Scotland and California will shoot laser beams at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial as part of a project to create a digital three-dimensional model of the iconic mountain carving from all angles.

Patriotic

Heads of State

The majestic Mt. Rushmore in the Black Hills of South Dakota

When visiting Mt. Rushmore I wanted to capture an image of the monument that was different than the iconic pictures featuring all four presidents. While studying the monument I was struck by the amazing detail that is completely overlooked in typical photographs - details like the veins in the rock and the chisel marks the artists left in the sculptures. This photograph also makes it easier to comprehend the scale of the monument. Lincoln's eyes are 10 feet wide and his nose is 21 feet long. Imagine a typical 6 foot tall person standing alongside Lincoln's nose - he would be less than 1/3 of the height of the nose.

Flagged entrance to the Mount Rushmore Monument.

Mount Rushmore captures the majesty of four of our beloved Presidents in the Black Hills of South Dakota. This avenue of flags celebrates our 50 states and leads us to these magnificant carved statues into a granite mountain.

The Avenue of Flags frames the illuminated Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

My youngest son, Joe, at Mt. Rushmore in 1978.

Much larger than the more well-known Mount Rushmore, this monument of Crazy Horse honors the respected war leader of the Lakota Indians. Crazy Horse fought against the US federal government in an effort to preserve the traditions and values of the Lakota way of life. This monument began as the lifelong work of a family that only uses donations to fund the work. The work is still in progress.

A bronco throws Andrew Sackmann of Meadow, S.D., from the saddle during a riding competition at the South Dakota State High School Rodeo finals in Belle Fourche, S.D.

"I want to thank the Lord for this opportunity and blessing me with this fortune," Neal Wanless said Friday after claiming his $232.1 million Powerball jackpot. "I will not squander it." The 23-year-old rancher bought the lucky ticket in Winner, S.D.

Brookings High's Dani Selberg lines up a shot during a girls high school golf tournament in Brandon, S.D.

Engineering technician Rick Larson measures the height of the sandbag dike behind homes as flood waters continue to rise on the Red River in Fargo, S.D.

Piles of sandbags are stacked in the Fargodome Monday evening as more than a thousand students and residents work to prevent the nearby Red River from flooding in Fargo, S.D.

A car belonging to Angel Hix of Newell, S.D., is buried under snow Saturday from a storm that dropped at least 45 inches of snow near Deadwood, S.D.